Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1887-09-02
A SAURIAN PET.
Some Interesting Facts About the
Florida Chameleon.
The Old Notions Exploded About the Little
Animal Changing His Color at Will,
and Living on Air-Desperats
Fight.

The Florida chameleon is the gentlesi
and prettiest of sauriaEs. 1t is a saying
in the South that this little creature is
an exact reproduction of the alligator
on very diminutive scale, but this is
not true. The fiat head and leaden
eyes of the alligator are not reproduced
in the chameleon, though in other
respects the likeness is very close. The
chameleon's head is narrow, its mouth
innocent-looking, and its eyes sparkle
like diamonds. .....
But if the chameleon and alligator
are closely similar in shape, they are
widely different in size. An alligator
twelve or fourteen feet in length, sun
ming himself on sand-bar, and cham
eleon three or four inches long, taking
siesta on an orange leaf, afford con-
trast SO striking that they are not likely
to be mistaken for twin-brothers.
Sometimes, however, chameleons are
mistaken by strangers for young alli-
gators. t....
In a railway car that was whirling
through the Florida pine woods, last
winter, chameleon awakened great
deal of curiosity In a number of boy
and girl passengers from the North, by
descending upon the window-pane to
the cherry-red sill, and looking them
over with its sparkling brown eyes.
BY accident or design, the little Great
ure's color was at that moment a quiet
drab. After discussing it for some time,
the young people came to the conclu-
sion that it was an infant alligator.
ho Il. .a1a I, 4 4 ,tol
across the panel to the next window,
where little Cracker" girl had taken
1t in her hand and adorned its neck
with bit of red yarn from her hood.
"What is it, little girl Pr one of the
party asked.
Yarn" said she.
HE means what's the ANIMAL" an
other of the young Northerners ex-
planned.
This yerp" she asked, with surprise,
pointing to the little creature. "Why,
that's er cumeelyump'
The interest of the young Northerners
now became greater even than it had
been. They had always regarded cha
meleons and salamanders as among the
most wonderful things in the world
cnameleons with their gift of being able
to change their color to that of the OBJ
ject on which they happened to be rest
ing, and salamanders, with their fond.
ness for skipping about among live
Goals and darling flames.
Yet here was a genuine chameleon
that did not become red when 1t halted
on the cherry window-sill, and did moi
turn green when it rested on the
Cracker girls frock, but with an ap
pearance of disregard for the mos
striking thing told about it in the story
books, preserved its modest dral
through all these vicissitudes. But
however useful as a sanitary precaution
or appropriate from an artistic point o
view, it might be for chameleons Il
change their color to match their inn
mediate surroundings, there is no sufli
cient season for believing that the fac
ulty of doing 30 is possessed by the m
Naturalists favor the theory that tn
changes of color are the result of ten
sion or relaxation of the fbrous muscle
In the skin. by which the minut
scales are so arranged that the pre-
dominating tint reflected from them j
red. green or neutral, according to tn
arrangement.
Whether this muscular action Is vol
untary or involuntary. nobody knows
So it can not be settled at presen
whether chameleon turns green TO
the reason that he prefers to be green
simply because he happens to hav
done something that incidentally make
chameleons green. But after all tn
theorizing. it is fact that a chameleo
found on lily-pad is more likely to
green than red, and that one found o
the bark OF tree is more often of
neutral tint than either red or green.
There is another thing told abou
rhameleons that would be very intel
esting if it were true-that they es
nothing but air. But it isn't tru,
Chameleons are not heavy eaters, an
they are very irregular about takin
their meals. 1t is fortunate for thel
that they have to devote but little a
tention to their eating, because the
are able to give all the more attentio
10 the important work of keeping then